The CU Buffs are knocking on the door.
Check that.
A lot of doors.
With a win over Utah on Friday and one specific piece of help — UCLA beating USC — the Buffs will be playing in their first Pac-12 football championship game since 2016.
CU moved to 4-0 (3-0 Pac-12) with a 24-13 win at Arizona this past Saturday. In doing so, the Buffs moved up from No. 4 to No. 2 in The Denver Postap Best of the West College Football Top 25.
The Buffs received one of the three first-place votes from The Postap selectors. The Trojans (4-0, 4-0 Pac-12) received the other two, and moved into the Best of the Westap top spot after a 38-13 thrashing of Washington State on Sunday.
Southern California visits the crosstown rival Bruins Saturday at 2 p.m. Denver time. If the Trojans and CU both win this weekend, USC will represent the South Division in the league title game because of more division wins — they would have five to the Buffs’ four.
The Trojans and Buffs had been slated to meet in Los Angeles on Nov. 28, the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. However, the game was canceled by the Pac-12 on Thanksgiving Day because of the number of COVID-19 positives within the USC football roster.
The tilt was declared a “no-contest,” forcing CU to schedule a quickie visit from San Diego State on Nov. 28 instead. The Buffs beat the Aztecs (4-3) at Folsom Field, 20-10.
The Best of the West poll, released each Monday, ranks the top 25 FBS programs from the Front Range to the Pacific Ocean, as culled from the Pac-12, the Mountain West and BYU.
Post columnist Sean Keeler (@SeanKeeler), Post deputy sports editor Matt Schubert (@MattDSchubert) and Post reporter Kyle Fredrickson (@KyleFredrickson) vote on the top 25.
The rest of the latest rankings follow, with in-state squads listed in bold:
THE DENVER POST BEST OF THE WEST TOP 25 POLL — DEC. 7
1. USC (4-0) (2 first-place votes) — Previous: 3 // Up next: at UCLA
2. CU (4-0) (1 first-place vote) — Previous: 4 // vs. UTAH, Fri.
3. BYU (9-1) — Previous: 1 // Up next: vs. SDSU
4. San Jose State (5-0) — Previous: 7 // Up next: vs. NEV in Vegas, Fri.
5. Washington (3-1) — Previous: 2 // Up next: at ORE
6. Boise State (4-1) — Previous: 5 // Up next: at WYO
7. Oregon (3-2) — Previous: 6 // Up next: vs. WASH
8. UCLA (3-2) — Previous: 8 // Up next: vs. USC
▲9. Stanford (2-2) — Previous: 15 // Up next: at OREST
10. Nevada (6-1) — Previous: 11 // Up next: vs. SJS in Vegas, Fri.
11. Oregon State (2-3) — Previous: 9 // Up next: vs. STAN
12. San Diego State (4-3) — Previous: 16 // Up next: at BYU
13. Utah (1-2) — Previous: 12 // Up next: at CU, Fri.
14. Air Force (3-2) — Previous: 17 // Up next: IDLE
15. California (1-3) — Previous: 19 // Up next: at. WAZZU
16. Fresno State (3-2) — Previous: 18 // Up next: at NM
▼17. Washington State (1-2) — Previous: 10 // Up next: vs CAL
18. Arizona State (0-2) — Previous: 13 // Up next: at ARIZ, Fri.
19. Hawaii (3-4) — Previous: 14 // Up next: vs. UNLV
20. Arizona (0-4) — Previous: 20 // Up next: vs. ASU, Fri.
21. CSU (1-3) — Previous: 21 // Up next: vs. USU
22. Wyoming (2-3) — Previous: 22 // Up next: vs. BOISE
23. Utah State (1-5) — Previous: 23 // Up next: at CSU
24. New Mexico (1-5) — Previous: 25 // Up next: vs. FRES
25. UNLV (0-5) — Previous: 24 // Up next: at HAW
▲= Biggest climb of the week
▼= Biggest drop of the week
•
